[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 186 (Thursday, November 9, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5437-S5438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mr. President, and there is much more to do here in Congress right 
now that will demand exactly the kind of bipartisanship Americans have 
made clear they want. In a little over a week, the Federal Government 
will shut down if Congress does not come together to pass a bipartisan 
extension of funding.
  Today, I am taking the first procedural step for the Senate to move 
forward on a legislative vehicle we can use next week to pass a 
temporary extension to avoid a government shutdown. Over the next few 
days, Democrats will continue talking to Republicans about finding a 
path forward and avoiding a shutdown that both sides support, and I 
earnestly hope we can reach agreement sooner rather than later.

  No matter how negotiations evolve over the next week, one thing is 
not going to change: The only way--the only way--let me say it a third 
time--the only way we avoid a shutdown is with bipartisan cooperation, 
just as it was true in September, and it will be true in the future.
  I implore Speaker Johnson and our House Republican colleagues to 
learn

[[Page S5438]]

from the fiasco of a month ago: Hard-right proposals, hard-right 
slashing cuts, hard-right poison pills that have zero support from 
Democrats will only make a shutdown more likely. I hope they don't go 
down that path in the week to come.